


Sun It Rises

by allourheroes



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Assassin!Damian, DickDami Week, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 04:51:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11456376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allourheroes/pseuds/allourheroes
Summary: Dick/Damian Week 2017 - Day One: Assassin!DamianDamian al Ghul is sent to destroy the pretenders to the mantle that should be granted his by blood and birthright. It just so happens that he only strikes when Dick Grayson is around. Pure coincidence,surely.





	Sun It Rises

**Author's Note:**

> For [Dick/Damian Week](http://dickdamiweek.tumblr.com)! Day One is Assassin!Damian and I did not plan ahead so this is the first thing I thought of. :)
> 
> "Sun It Rises" is a Fleet Foxes song.

Damian al Ghul bows before the Demon’s Head and awaits their leader’s proclamation.

“You completed your Year of Blood younger than any have before. You have shown time and again that you are capable of brutality and precision that is unsurpassed. The League of Assassins can accomplish anything, but this must be your task alone. It is your honor and your bloodline that is at stake here. You are sixteen now, but you have been ready since you were only a child.”

“What is it that you wish of me?” Damian asks and, for this, he keeps his head bowed.

“The Detective has a line of successors, of,” and his expression sours, “ _pretenders_ to his mantle. A mantle that is your birthright.” Ra’s al Ghul pauses, waiting for Damian’s gaze to meet his own. “You will take what is yours and destroy all those who might stand in your way.”

“Yes, Grandfather.” Damian allows a grin that Ra’s al Ghul returns.

~

Dick Grayson is out trying to grab a bagel when he’s forced to dodge three throwing knives and backflip out of the way of a well-aimed katana in broad daylight.

When his attacker swipes at him again and he grabs the guy’s wrist, he has a fraction of a moment to assess just who exactly he’s fighting. “Do I know you?”

“No.”

They struggle and Dick manages to keep his feet on the ground and they’ve ended up in one of Gotham’s million alleyways. “Then why all this?”

“I am Damian al Ghul, son of Talia al Ghul, grandson of Ra’s al Ghul, and you are in my way.”

“If you wanted a bagel, you could’ve just asked,” Dick says with a smirk and the boy--he has to be younger than Tim, although taller--glares at him. Inside, he’s wondering why the League of Assassins is sending an al Ghul to Gotham. That’s a big deal. Usually it’s just a minion, unless Ra’s has come for Bruce.

“I’ve been watching you, Dick Grayson. Nightwing. As you waste your time and abilities. As you waste my father’s time. You are not a worthy heir to his title and I have come to claim it.”

“Father?” Dick asks, and is forced to swing up onto one of the emergency stairways on the side of the apartment building to his left.

The kid, Damian, uses the other building in some sort of ridiculous parkour jump to get above him. “I am the son of the Detective,” Damian says with a sneer. “Batman.”

Dick almost stumbles in his surprise, but then there are sirens. Someone must be new to Gotham if they’re still calling the police, he thinks, but he turns away as the lights pull up and when he looks back, his would-be assassin has disappeared. “Damn the League,” he murmurs, but he’s dropping down and attempting nonchalance.

Once the police have been dealt with, he contacts Oracle to get the message out before heading to the mansion to catch Bruce.

~

Somehow, the one night Dick is patrolling with Jason, simply after having run into him, the kid strikes again. He’s around the corner cuffing a mugger when he sees something in his periphery and then Jason is shouting, “The hell?”

“You!” Dick yells and watches Damian’s gaze flicker to him before it focuses back on Jason.

Jason grunts and rolls out of the way as Damian dives at him. “This is him? The kid going around saying he’s B’s son?”

“Yep, that’s him.”

“I _am_ the Bat’s son,” Damian affirms, then tosses shuriken that have Dick tackling Jason out of the way.

Jason straightens up and pulls a gun. “Yeah, well, we’ll see when this is all over.” He fires and the kid is hopping from dumpster to stairway and Dick is screaming all the while.

“Stop! He’s just a kid!”

“He’s a freaking _assassin_ , Nightwing,” Jason returns, and he’s reloading.

Dick sighs and runs at Damian, but the kid hops away. “Maybe he wants the element of surprise?” he ponders, but secretly he thinks this assassin isn’t trying nearly as hard as he’s surely capable.

Holstering his gun, Jason tilts his head thoughtfully. “Kid must be, what? Sixteen? So, go back sixteen or seventeen years... Weren’t you tagging along with Batman back then?”

With a nod, Dick tries to remember that far back. He guesses that Bruce and Talia did have some sort of weird… _thing_ , but he hadn’t heard anything about a child. And neither had Bruce, apparently.

~

Tim is the next to get hit, calling for backup over the comms.

It just so happens that Dick is the nearest to him. Tim and Damian are bickering like siblings and when Dick shows up, Damian fights and flees yet again.

“To think this _assassin_ could have anything to do with Batman,” Tim is saying and Dick is beginning to wonder if he’s not seeing similarities already.

“He’s not so bad,” Dick finds himself saying, for some reason he can’t quite fathom himself.

Tim scoffs. “Even if he wasn’t a trained killer, he’s annoying and arrogant.”

Dick shrugs. “Yeah, you’re right,” but he’s not sure if he actually agrees.

~

Honestly, Steph and Cass can handle themselves, especially when they’re together, but Dick knows they’re nearby and when his own comms go out.

He’s not exactly surprised when he sees the kid again. “Hey, Damian.”

“ _Tt_. Grayson.”

Stephanie laughs and Cassandra eyes Dick curiously, but then Damian charges Cass and his katana clangs loudly against her gauntlet.

Her eyes narrow and Dick Grayson recognizes kindred spirits. With a glance, he thinks Stephanie sees it, too.

“Let him off easy,” Steph calls and Cass seems to frown behind her mask.

Cass pushes him off and slugs him, drawing blood. Damian ducks and nearly swipes her legs out from under her and she jumps.

Then, he’s stepping back and Dick knows he’s retreating again.

“It was nice seeing you!” he shouts, and Damian makes a noise that Dick is pretty sure sounds like _amusement_.

~

Dick checks in on Duke and nothing is amiss there, so he assumes Damian is only going after those Bruce has legally made a part of the family.

After all, the other option is trying to fight just about every single young person in Gotham. Which sounds...like, _way_ too much. Even for a member of the League of Assassins. Then, Kate and Gordon and David and… Yeah, no.

It seems that Damian isn’t trying to go _that_ far.

Dick finds a rooftop and sets down a paper bag beside him. It’s a nice spot, especially for Gotham.

A figure flits past him and he feigns ignorance, waits until it happens again. And again. And then finally Damian is there standing over him.

“You’re not going to defend yourself?” Damian asks.

Dick shakes his head and offers a smile. “Nope.”

“I’ve killed thousands.”

Patting the spot beside him, Dick ignores the comment. “Here, sit with me.” He reaches his hand into the bag and Damian tenses, but then Dick is handing him a sesame bagel. “Maybe today you can take a break on murder attempts and eat a bagel. I got you hummus. Is that… Is that okay? You didn’t strike me as a cream cheese guy. Or a lox guy, even.”

Damian stares off, as if he isn’t sure what to do with this turn of events. “It’s...acceptable,” Damian manages. “I’m a vegetarian,” he murmurs, and crouches down, still uncertain if he should sit or if this will be some manipulative trick.

“No lox was the right choice,” Dick affirms to himself. Somehow, he sounds like he’s planning for the future. He glances sidelong at Damian as the young man finally takes a bite, having decided it’s not poisoned. “An assassin and a vegetarian, how ’bout that.”

Closing off, Damian blusters, “There’s no reason you’d need to know anything about me. Other than that I am your superior.”

“Uh- _huh_ ,” Dick allows and Damian seems to relax again slightly. He points ahead of him. “Sun’s about to rise.”

Finally, Damian plunks down beside him, feet dangling off the edge of the building.

Dick keeps his gaze trained on the horizon as it begins to glow. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

At first, he’s happy enough that Damian doesn’t just say no before, to his surprise, the assassin nods.

The sun rises and so begins a brand new day, for both of them.


End file.
